


what could you be

by blessings



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, HQ Brofest Rookie Tier, Humor, Kyoutani Kentarou Swears A Lot, The power of friendship, it's just me i swear a lot, some seijou gen too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 06:19:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14206962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blessings/pseuds/blessings
Summary: For a guy who tries to avoid making friends as much as humanly possible, Kyoutani Kentarou has managed to pick up a really weird, really annoying, reallyloudone.





	what could you be

**Author's Note:**

> my type of character: 凸ಠ益ಠ)凸

It happened when he was least expecting it, which is the only reason it happened at all.

Kentarou would argue that probably the stupidest thing about high school sports is the people you don't ever want to interact with (outside of crushing them on the court) all live in the same city. So, just for example, if your dumbass dog takes off running across the park when she’s _supposed_ to be walking next to you, there's a chance - hypothetically - she'll knock over the ace of the team that knocked you out of the running for Nationals, and then you'll have to go over and pretend that you feel bad so he doesn’t egg your school or some shit. And Kentarou’s luck has always tended to run on the shitty side, the one where awful hypothetical situations are just his version of a normal day and his dog’s leash slips from his grip. 

This was Awful Hypothetical Situation #1 on Kentarou’s list - talking to a slightly bruised Tanaka Ryuunosuke, the loudmouth from Karasuno. Or at least, listening to him talk while he tried to figure a way out of the one-sided conversation. 

Yahaba probably has nightmares about shit like this happening - Kentarou off his leash, interacting with rival teammates without someone to translate his bite into a bark. Kentarou knows _he_ does. 

“It’s really no problem, dude, dogs love me! Pretty understandable, right?” Tanaka laughed, still on the ground with _Kentarou’s_ dog all over him. Traitor. “You don’t have to apologize, I didn’t even notice anything was wrong ‘til I was falling.”

Kentarou was done apologizing a long time ago, but whatever. He stood awkwardly on the sidewalk, clutching the leash much tighter now, waiting for his dog to stop treating Baldy like he was- like he was a _treat_. 

“What’s her name?” Tanaka asked, making baby noises at Kentarou’s grown-up, badass dog. “Hello! I love you too!” 

She licked his nose. Treason.

“Don’t- don’t talk to her like that,” Kentarou grit out, and then, because he was pretty proud of his dog despite her lack of common sense, he answered, “Her name is Spike.”

Tanaka looked at him like he just told him he invented volleyball, his mouth hanging open and eyes wide. “Dude. Can we be best friends?”

“Absolutely not.”

Tanaka was unfazed, standing and brushing the grass stains off of his jeans. “It’s so wild that we ran into each other like this. It has to be a sign.”

Spike moved to leaping around his feet as he rose, her tail in the air and wagging happily. That’s the only reason Kentarou didn’t immediately take off when Tanaka started talking about _signs._ But if he started talking about the power of friendship or some bullshit-

“It’s like we’re meant to be friends- hey, wait, where are you going?” 

Kentarou grunted in response. 

“Cool, cool. We’re walking in the same direction, I think,” Tanaka said, falling into step with him too easily.

Kentarou stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, Spike looking between him and Tanaka with her tongue lolling out, completely oblivious to the tension. Adorable idiot. “Where are you going?”

“Uh, like over there sorta,” Tanaka said, gesturing vaguely at the restaurant he was clearly heading for.

Kentarou spun completely around. “We’re not heading in the same direction. Bye.”

“That way’s a dead-end though?”

Kentarou grit his teeth.

“You know, man, I’m tryin’ to be polite and show some manners here. But all you’ve shown me so far is a pretty shitty attitude,” Tanaka said, leering at Kentarou as he reluctantly tugged Spike towards the restaurant. “And a really shitty poker face.”

Kentarou let a long stare at Tanaka’s twisted-up expression be his response. 

“Bro - and I mean this in the rudest way possible - you look like a bee that got its own pointer stuck up its ass.”

“You look like a hardboiled egg someone knocked off a kitchen counter,” Kentarou snapped. They had stopped moving forward, circling each other slowly. Kentarou felt more at ease than he had throughout their entire conversation. This was familiar territory. 

Tanaka got close enough for Kentarou to determine that he _did_ have hair, it was just super short, and levelled him with an appraising glare. Kentarou mirrored the look, forcing his eyebrows down. Tanaka leaned in and Kentarou braced himself-

“Ahaha! Alright then.”

He pounded Kentarou on the back with his open palm, surprising him enough to send him stumbling forward. Spike barked and it sounded like she was laughing. 

“What the hell?” Kentarou muttered, mostly to himself. Was this the start of a fight?

Tanaka continued strolling down the sidewalk, whistling with his hands shoved in his pockets. He looked over his shoulder with an exaggerated grin when he realized Kentarou wasn’t following him. “Come on, then. I’ll cover you.”

Kentarou wondered exactly when Tanaka had hit him hard enough to knock him out, because he was definitely missing something here.

“Where-” Kentarou started, then stopped himself, his frustration mounting and making it difficult to force the words out. 

Tanaka faced him fully, eyes flickering over Kentarou’s clenched fists and hunched shoulders. His brows ironed out and his grin became something more natural. It looked like an invitation. “Let’s get some lunch. My sister works at that restaurant so I can probably get you a discount. If you play nice, that is.”

Kentarou stepped forward because he didn’t know what else to do. He had no experience with invitations to fall back on. Tanaka smiled again as Spike trotted along between them, probably sensing that she was going to get a bite of someone’s leftovers. 

“Do you walk your dog at this park every day?” Tanaka asked, breaking the awkward tension that he probably wasn’t aware of.

“Not anymore, I don’t,” Kentarou muttered instinctively.

Tanaka snorted before realizing he was basically laughing at himself. “Harsh, dude. I’m trying here.”

“Trying _what?_ ”

“To make friends, dumbass!”

Kentarou stopped in the middle of the sidewalk again. The families in the park must have been wondering when the fight was going to break out. “You’re from Karasuno.”

“That is true.”

“So...”

“So what?” Tanaka scuffed his shoe on the sidewalk impatiently, as if the glaringly obvious issue before them just didn’t occur to him.

Kentarou gave him a second to guess and continued on when it became apparent he wasn’t going to have any ideas. “We’re _rivals_.”

“Is that it?” Tanaka shrugged and turned again towards the restaurant, talking to Kentarou over his shoulder. “One of the toughest guys I know is from a rival team. It’s not a big deal. Oh shit dude, you _gotta_ meet him, you’re gonna _hate_ each other it’ll be so great-”

“ _So_ we’re not... _friends_ ,” Kentarou said, frustrated again. Some of it was directed at himself now, for not being able to keep up with Tanaka’s logic, for being so out of practice with one stupid word.

Tanaka pulled open the door and waited for Kentarou to tie Spike to a signpost outside before continuing their argument. Or at least what Kentarou thought was an argument. Again, this was all pretty new to him. “You think we can’t put aside our differences and just eat a simple lunch together?”

“Not without a food fight breaking out,” Kentarou responded, eyeing the menu above the counter.

Tanaka shook his head in exaggerated disappointment. “As if that’s a bad thing- oh, shit.”

“Ryuu!” A delighted shout echoed through the tiny restaurant. One of the waitresses threw her dishrag to the side to embrace Tanaka in a hug. 

“Aw, get off,” Tanaka said goodnaturedly. She released him and turned to Kentarou, looking at him expectantly.

“Hi,” he said gruffly. She resembled Tanaka, but with better hair and a job. Kentarou could respect that.

“Who’s this? A classmate?” she asked, buzzing around them excitedly.

“Kyoutani Kentarou!” Tanaka announced for him. “From Seijou, remember? Oh, Kyoutani, this is the sister I was telling you about, the one who’s going to pay for my lunch, please?”

“Oh my god,” she said, ignoring him. “I remember that match. You play like an _animal_.” 

Kentarou took it as a compliment.

“Call me Saeko! Whatever you want, it’s on the house,” she continued. “Not you, Ryuu, you’re running us out of business. You still have to pay.”

“ _What_?” Tanaka shrieked, and Kentarou wondered how often the customers in this place have to come here to be able to tune him out so well. Not a single one reacted.

Tanaka and Saeko bickered while she took their orders and got their water and, somehow, while she picked up their food from the kitchen. Kentarou was fine with it, because he was able to sit quietly and try to figure out how the hell he ended up there.

“You’re a lousy sister! I’m not leaving a tip!” 

“My _tip_ goes towards your allowance!”

“I’m leaving a really small tip!” Tanaka finally yelled. “Here, Kyoutani, do you want to try some of mine?”

Kentarou was thrown off by the sudden switch in volume and accepted the chicken and rice Tanaka shoved at him without thinking.

“You can take some to Spike, too!” Tanaka offered. 

Kentarou nodded slowly.

“Yeah, it’s cool if you don’t offer me any of yours, I’ve had it a bunch of times and it’s not like you have manners or anything-”

“Why are you doing this?” Kentarou interrupted.

Tanaka raised his eyebrows. “I was trying to get you to give me some of your lunch.”

“Not that,” Kentarou said impatiently, shoving the plate towards him. “Well, partially that. Why are you- why am I _here_?”

It had been confusing him throughout the entire meal. He wouldn’t have done this, taken a kid from a rival school, a kid with a terrible attitude, to lunch. He didn’t know a single person who would do this for someone like him. Only Tanaka. 

Tanaka leaned his chair back, looking at the other customers while he thought his answer through. His usual grin is gone, replaced with something more contemplative. “Because...you weren’t gonna do it. And it felt like we should.”

“Felt like...” Kentarou mumbled, still confused.

“It’s fate, man! Like I said!” The grin was back. Kentarou had never felt so exposed before.

“It was my dog,” he responded.

Tanaka sighed. “It’s just, you walk around glaring at everyone like that, it was only a matter of time before someone felt challenged to put a different expression on your face.” He paused. “And yeah, it was your dog too.”

Kentarou touched his hand to his forehead. He couldn’t tell what he looked like at that moment.

“Can I get your number? So I can see Spike again, not you of course.” Tanaka tentatively held out his phone.

Kentarou stared at it like he was pointing a knife at him. He knew what he was supposed to do, he’d just never done it before. 

Tanaka watched him carefully then subtly leaned away, putting distance between them. “You don’t have to-”

“Shut up. Hand it over,” Kentarou muttered, and nearly broke Tanaka’s phone with how hard he entered his number. Tanaka hid his grin beneath another bite of food.

They finished lunch without starting a food fight or getting kicked out and at the end of her shift Saeko offered to give Kentarou a ride home and he accepted, even though it kind of sounded like a threat.

“Don’t be a stranger, fool!” Tanaka shouted out of the van window as it pulled away, middle finger amiably extended. The tires screeched as they drove off, leaving charcoal-black skid marks outside Kentarou’s apartment and the sharp silence that followed could’ve knocked him over with how dizzy he felt. Or maybe it was just Saeko’s driving.

He thought that would be the end of it. But it’s already been established that Kentarou’s luck tends to run on the shitty side.

\---

Kentarou is a big believer in not saying anything at all if he couldn’t say something nice. The problem was, growing up, he never knew what nice _was_. He threw himself into everything - _himself_ , with all of his rough edges and whatever honesty he could muster. And it got him bumped around enough to learn that it was better to keep his mouth shut and keep people far away than to risk getting hurt. Or to risk hurting someone. 

_**from: dumbass (karasuno)**  
_ _HEY ASSHOLE WHAT DID I SAY_

_**to: dumbass (karasuno)**  
__what shitfuck_

Kentarou is a little disappointed that his one personal rule can’t withstand a text from Tanaka Ryuunosuke. 

__**from: dumbass (karasuno)**  
_I SAID_  
_DON’T BE A STRANGER_  
_I LITERALLY YELLED IT AT YOU I KNOW U HEARD ME_

_**to: dumbass (karasuno)**  
__you spelled “you” 2 different ways_

__**from: dumbass (karasuno)**  
_FUCK U (YOU)_  
_MY SISTER WANTS TO KNOW WHEN UR COMING BACK I DON’T ACTUALLY CARE BECAUSE YOU’RE RUDE AND UGLY_

Kentarou takes a deep breath and decides nice was never going to work for them anyway.

_**to: dumbass (karasuno)**  
_ _when you turn your capslock off i’ll consider it_

\---

Kentarou has always had a reputation at school. It’s only rarely been true. Yahaba, and eventually the rest of the guys, have learned better than to believe he’s getting in fights every week (if he fucked his hands up punching someone he wouldn’t be able to _play_ ) but Kindaichi still manages to look absolutely terrified when Tanaka marches up to him during the first day of the Spring Tournament.

Karasuno and Seijou are both seeded teams, of course, but they’re seeded teams because they’re all fucking nuts about volleyball so it isn’t even a matter of bad luck that they run into each other in the bleachers. It was set in stone. Kentarou should have anticipated that they’d both show up to watch the first couple matches. But he couldn’t have anticipated that Tanaka would want to talk to him in front of his team.

“Hey dumbass,” Tanaka starts, standing on the step above Kentarou’s aisle seat so he has to twist to look up at him. He doesn’t bother, though, preferring to tilt his head and glare from the corner of his eye. He’s aware of his reputation, after all, and he doesn’t _entirely_ hate it. 

“What, stupidface?” Kentarou grunts. “You’re interrupting the game.”

Tanaka looks almost apologetic for a moment - volleyball is _sacred_ \- but his sneer returns. “You left your notebook at the restaurant last week. You’re lucky Saeko held onto it for you.”

“I’ll pick it up next time,” Kentarou snaps. He’s becoming increasingly aware of the fact that he never really told anyone where he’s been going after practice ends, and so is the rest of his team judging by the way none of them are watching the match anymore. His and Tanaka’s conversation is apparently intriguing enough for the bunch of assholes. 

“Kyoutani-kun,” Yahaba says slyly, and Kentarou immediately starts calculating how fast he can make it out of the country. “Who’s this?”

Yahaba absolutely knows _who this is_. Yahaba made him study the playing style of _who this is_ for two hours last night. 

Kentarou just looks pointedly at the Karasuno uniform, refusing to play along. Tanaka is the goddamn ace, for crying out loud. 

“A friend?” Yahaba prompts, and of course he would know exactly which word to use to get under Kentarou’s skin. 

Tanaka draws himself up to his full height. “ _Yeah_ , I’m a friend. What’s it to ya, creampuff?” And wow, Kentarou really needs to stop talking shit about how much administrative work Yahaba makes him do. 

“I’m just surprised! Kyoutani-kun never mentioned you,” Yahaba says. Kentarou winces and jabs him in the side with his elbow.

“I don’t mention a lot of things,” he mutters, hoping Tanaka can hear him. He doesn’t look too bothered, but he has his tough guy face on.

“Are we secret best friends, dude? That’s pretty sick.”

Never mind.

“We’re not- I’m not-” Kentarou doesn’t want to outright deny it, but he also wants to be able to have peaceful practices with his team without being bombarded by questions.

“Aw, who’s getting the kids in the divorce?” Yahaba teases.

“Don’t be a dickwad, dickwad,” Kentarou snaps at the same time Tanaka asks, “What divorce?”

“When we crush Karasuno this week,” Yahaba responds, ignoring Kentarou. “We’re going for the kill on this one. For last year.” 

“Don’t look down on us,” Tanaka warns, slouching his shoulders more. Stupid idiot should fix his posture. Kentarou will have to text him after the match. 

“Get your hands out of your shorts and we’ll consider it,” Yahaba says sweetly.

“What’d you say?” Tanaka snarls, his upper lip curling into a sneer. His little friend, the one who probably stole all the hair Tanaka shaved off and gelled it onto his own head, has followed Tanaka’s typical volume level to their section of the gym. He hangs back but looks ready to jump into the fray, head bobbing back and forth like a bird to keep an eye on Seijou. 

Yahaba, the little prick, rises from his seat. “I _said-_ ”

“Both of you shut up,” Kentarou interrupts, his shoulders rising up to his ears as he tries to get comfortable on the stupid plastic bleachers. “Givin’ me a headache.”

Yahaba and Tanaka look at him with identical expressions of shock and if Kentarou was sentimental he’d take a picture. The little guy stops trying to climb up the stairs with his short legs and tilts his head appraisingly.

“Uh,” Tanaka says stupidly. “Yeah! Shut up!”

Yahaba looks at him with pity. 

“Yahaba, sit down,” Kentarou says quietly. He tugs on the back of his jacket, not too hard. Yahaba eyes him carefully, curiosity then realization crossing his face.

“Fine,” Yahaba sighs, collapsing into his seat dramatically. He rests his hand on Kentarou’s knee as a silent apology. “We’ll just have to settle it on the court.”

“You can try,” Tanaka says. “We’re ready for you.”

“Not as ready as we are,” Kentarou responds, making sure he’s facing him when he says it. And he knows he’s right. No other team in Miyagi has been working as hard as Seijou to take down the damn crows. Karasuno isn’t going to recognize what hits them.

Tanaka watches him quietly, before bumping his shoulder with his fist. “I’m looking forward to it.” 

There’s a bit of a spark where Tanaka’s hand connects, a feeling that he needs to back up all of his talk _right now_ , needs to prove that they can stand on the same court as equals. But the moment ends when Tanaka jumps down more stairs than is safe to, landing with both arms raised in the air. “Karasuno rules!” 

Kentarou flips him off as he runs to catch up with his team and pointedly refuses to acknowledge all of Seijou circling him like vultures for gossip. 

“You are just full of surprises, aren’t you,” Yahaba murmurs.

Kentarou glares ahead, eyes focused on the match but not really watching. Stupid smart poofy-haired bastard. 

“Kyoutani-kun,” Kunimi says. “Why don’t you take me to restaurants?”

Kindaichi inhales deeply in terror.

“Yeah, Kyoutani, buddy.” Watari slings an arm around him and Yahaba, squeezing them together. “I’m free later today.”

Yahaba wiggles next to him, bumping Kentarou’s shoulder as he laughs. “I could go for some Karaage-kun after this.”

“All of you! Scram!” Kentarou struggles to break free, twisting in his seat and kicking his legs out, connecting with the seats in front of him.

“Please, Kyoutani-senpai,” Kunimi says in his usual monotone. Kindaichi looks to be on the verge of tears.

“What the fuck! Fuck off!”

“Kyoutani-kun, feed us.”

“Starve, asshole!”

The family sitting in the row behind them moves to a quieter section across the court. 

\---

Seijou returns to the gym in a different mood a few days later. They’ve always been a team with something to prove, but Karasuno has turned being the underdog into their brand. Kentarou can admit that he’s excited for their collision, something that feels fated to happen every year that a group of third-years goes home empty-handed. He’s not planning on it being his group this year.

He doesn’t run into Tanaka by accident this time, instead texting him to meet him by the water fountain. Yahaba is the closest thing on Seijou to his friend, but he was a dick to Tanaka. And maybe Kentarou can vaguely remember doing something similar when they first met, but he’s only apologizing on Yahaba’s behalf here. 

He almost checks for hidden cameras while waiting for Tanaka to show up. Yahaba would love to get this on video. _Baby’s First Apology: The Movie._ He’d make the coach project it onto the clubroom wall. Kindaichi would cry at the end.

Tanaka arrives just in time to see Kentarou stick his head under the water fountain. “Uh, everything good?”

Kentarou nearly brains himself on the cold metal when he jolts up. “Yeah, what the fuck are you looking at?” Good start.

“You texted me to meet you here,” Tanaka reminds him. “Did you need help getting a drink or something-”

“We don’t look down on you,” Kentarou interrupts.

“What?”

“I know- we know not to look down on you.” He stumbles through the words haltingly, his tone too gruff, too sincere. “It’s more like...we’ve been following you. Trust me.” Kentarou tries to figure out how to say the next part without sounding like a damn life coach, but gives up. “And it doesn’t matter who wins, as long as we both try our best and all that bullshit. Because that’s how I’ll know you respect us. And that’s how I’ll show that I respect you guys. Not that I do, or whatever.”

Tanaka looks at him with wide eyes, like he’s never really seen him before. Kentarou thinks that’s about right.

“I got you,” Tanaka says, and Kentarou believes him. “I’ll see you out there, then.” 

“I won’t hold back,” Kentarou warns, just to be clear.

“‘Course not,” Tanaka scoffs. “You don’t know how to.”

He extends a clenched fist towards him and it’s both familiar and something Kentarou has never seen before. So he does what feels natural, and meets him halfway. And when he faces Tanaka across the net, he faces him head-on, not dropping his gaze for a moment. Karasuno’s ace is something to be watched, closely. 

He can hear Saeko start up her drums somewhere in the audience. Stupid show-off crows. 

Kentarou tosses the ball in the air, taking a few steps and then a leap forward, and the match begins with the ball slamming onto Karasuno’s side.

There’s a muted reaction from most of them - they’ve heard of his new serve, but never seen it in person before - except for one idiot in the back row.

“That’s the way to do it!” Tanaka cackles, pointing a challenging finger at him. He can afford to be that cocky - he told Kentarou that he’s been working on his own jump serve.

“Kentarou!” A familiar voice is cheering for him in the crowd. Kentarou refuses to look up, tucking the lower half of his face into his jersey to hide his smile and shaking out his wrists. She’s cheering for the wrong team. Being an indefatigable dumbass runs in the family, then. 

The referee tosses him another ball and he licks his lips, spinning it in his hands. He wants to send a message. 

He tosses it into the air one more time, aiming directly for Tanaka, a challenge from one ace to another. 

\---

It’s not until a couple months have passed that it hits Kentarou. He’s at Karasuno Kitchen placing an order for himself and Tanaka, who claimed to be too tired from chasing first-years around to stand in line (which Kentarou takes as confirmation of his superior strength, and gets punched in the shoulder for voicing this objective fact). Saeko smiles and rubs the top of his head aggressively when she sees him and he tries to maintain a glare but he can feel his stupid lips twitching, and then he places their order. Dango for him and the same boring-ass fried chicken and rice for Tanaka. 

He falls into his usual spot - a seat in a booth near the back, directly opposite Tanaka - and shoves Tanaka’s food towards him, who accepts it gratefully. Kentarou is about to take a bite but freezes with the stick halfway into his mouth when he realizes he never actually asked Tanaka what he wanted. He just _knew_. 

“Oh, shit.”

“What?”

“Oh fuck shit _hell_ no.” 

“What’s gotten into you?” Tanaka eyes him like he’s debating whether he should dump a glass of water on his head.

“I know your order,” Kentarou says in horror.

“Uh, yeah,” Tanaka replies. “Probably ‘cause I get the same thing every time?”

Yeah, _every time_. It’s been a lot of times by this point. They’ve sat in all of the seats in this restaurant, a different memory made in each spot. Tanaka spilled tea all over himself in that corner. Saeko gave Kentarou more salad than Tanaka at that table as a joke and they both nearly burst into flames, for different reasons. The two of them sat quietly together out on the curb after their match, not saying anything for once. But it was the first time Kentarou realized how powerful silence could be.

Right now Kentarou wants to ruin it. He wants to run, get up and kick the door down and knock Tanaka’s food to the ground, just to make a mess of everything. But he doesn’t. 

Because he can’t see himself in this same place feeling happier by himself than he feels when he has Tanaka screaming at him and Saeko nearly killing him with her foot on the gas and Kentarou holding in something in the backseat that’s almost a laugh.

Kentarou compares the two versions of how every day could look for him, and he makes his choice. 

“You good, man?” Tanaka asks. 

“Damn,” Kentarou sighs, reclining in his chair. “You’re pretty permanent now.”

“And you’ve been trying to get rid of me this whole time, too,” Tanaka says, stirring water with a straw, trying to look suave and failing. “Guess that’s a point for me.” 

“Persistent bald bastard.” Kentarou grins.

“Buzzcut bumblebee.” Tanaka kicks his chair legs out. 

Kentarou chokes on his goddamn dango, nearly stabbing himself with the stick and sending Tanaka into a panic loud enough to bring Saeko out from the kitchen, and the three of them make enough noise shouting over each other for yet another memory to sear itself into Kentarou’s brain. He wouldn’t mind keeping this one, though.

**Author's Note:**

> title is from who let the dogs out
> 
> yeah
> 
>  
> 
> [kyouken.carrd.co](http://kyouken.carrd.co)


End file.
